As the subject says, I am looking for people who have had a DM (Degenerative Myelopathy) diagnosed pup. And still continued to vaccinate as scheduled.

I have read many articles on this, especially the good ones from Dr. Clemmons who from what I have read is considered the expert on this. Mostly everything I have read is that DM is in a sense an auto-immune disease and that vaccinating with this diagnosis can hurt the dog and actually progress their disease further.

Some backstory:
I have an 8 year old GSD, that has been positively identified with DM and now the town is coming after me to get her re-vaccinated. So far my local vets (This is NJ) seem pretty clueless to this disease. I've requested a rabies vaccination exemption from them, but none of them will sign it.
I get the responses of "Well she looks good, I don't see how it would hurt".
This is the same specialist, that gave her a 6 month window of a "good" life back in 2012 and here it is almost 2 years later and my dog is still walking around thankfully. I attribute much of delaying the onset of the disease to following the suggestions made by Dr. Clemmons after helpful people on this site directed me to his articles 2 years ago. Needless to say, I would regret vaccinating her again if it made her worse. She is not even due until August, but apparently NJ law states in order to issue a dog license the rabies vac can't be due in the same year. And now the town has issued me a summons on not renewing her license.

Looking for any advice, suggestions, of anyone who may have information on this. Maybe you've gone through this situation previously, or know of a holistic vet in NJ that may be able to help me. I have reached out to Dr. Clemmons but so far been unable to get a response. Many of his articles were from 5-10 years ago so I am not sure if many of the research done back then has changed. Thank you!

Thanks Chip, I can see if they will accept the titer test in court. May be tough but we'll see if it gets to that.

The DM test, if I recall was around $200 or so. But it was back in 2012 so my memory on it may be a bit hazy as it cost me $2,000+ before they even got to that test. (Xray's, multiple Dr. visit's, etc.)

She started showing signs in August 2012, we came home from vacation and the house/dog sitter we had checking in and taking her out said the house was a complete mess.
She became incontinent during our trip, and every time she would lay down she'd leak.
Needless to say our house was a mess.

We took her to the vet upon returning, and he sent us to a neurologist after trying a few antibiotics thinking it was some type of urinary tract infection.

Specialist saw her, and then pointed out how her rear nails were all worn completely down.
And sometimes how her legs would cross a bit in the rear. I guess I had never really noticed it but when she pointed it out it was definitely there. She did Xrays etc. and blood tests and finally ordered the special test for DM to go out which I believe she said goes to Indiana University or something similar. Little over a week later got back the news she was DM positive and there was nothing we can do. Dr. said keep her as active as much as possible to prevent further onset and gave her about 6 months of having a good life left. Where we'd then wind up wheel chairing her, or putting her to sleep.

I researched the **** out of the disease, since even the specialist admitted it's relatively "new" to them and there are still a lot of unknowns except they say it's not painful to the dog, and they feel it's genetic. We changed her diet to full raw diet, except for kibble in the morning (Orijen) so we could begin giving her vitamins as I read online.
She now gets Kibble with 4 squirts salmon oil, Missing Link (Vet Strength), Vitamin E 2000iu, Vitamin C, and Super B-Complex.

It's been 18 months now since she was brought in having issues walking, and incotinent.
About a month after I started the diet change, she stopped having incotinent issues. And she appears to have much more strength in her legs. She runs around the yard still daily like crazy. It's almost like she is a different dog.

Needless to say, Dr's don't always know everything. We're greatful for every additional day we get with her but also realize it could come back at any time.

Sorry for the long winded response, but I like sharing it. Often times it's not as nice of a story.

I would ask the vet to refer to the manufacture's insert in the vaccine that advises against at any time of illness.

Then I would ask them to sign a waiver with explicit clause that they will pay for all treatment costs post vaccine.

Then I would ask them again to write a vaccine waiver.

If they still won't - tell them that they will be summoned for your hearing.

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Unknown

She started showing signs in August 2012, we came home from vacation and the house/dog sitter we had checking in and taking her out said the house was a complete mess.
She became incontinent during our trip, and every time she would lay down she'd leak.
Needless to say our house was a mess.

We took her to the vet upon returning, and he sent us to a neurologist after trying a few antibiotics thinking it was some type of urinary tract infection.

Specialist saw her, and then pointed out how her rear nails were all worn completely down.
And sometimes how her legs would cross a bit in the rear. I guess I had never really noticed it but when she pointed it out it was definitely there. She did Xrays etc. and blood tests and finally ordered the special test for DM to go out which I believe she said goes to Indiana University or something similar. Little over a week later got back the news she was DM positive and there was nothing we can do. Dr. said keep her as active as much as possible to prevent further onset and gave her about 6 months of having a good life left. Where we'd then wind up wheel chairing her, or putting her to sleep.

I researched the **** out of the disease, since even the specialist admitted it's relatively "new" to them and there are still a lot of unknowns except they say it's not painful to the dog, and they feel it's genetic. We changed her diet to full raw diet, except for kibble in the morning (Orijen) so we could begin giving her vitamins as I read online.
She now gets Kibble with 4 squirts salmon oil, Missing Link (Vet Strength), Vitamin E 2000iu, Vitamin C, and Super B-Complex.

It's been 18 months now since she was brought in having issues walking, and incotinent.
About a month after I started the diet change, she stopped having incotinent issues. And she appears to have much more strength in her legs. She runs around the yard still daily like crazy. It's almost like she is a different dog.

Needless to say, Dr's don't always know everything. We're greatful for every additional day we get with her but also realize it could come back at any time.

Sorry for the long winded response, but I like sharing it. Often times it's not as nice of a story.

Thank you it will be shared and to be clear..so she is still up and running?

I would ask the vet to refer to the manufacture's insert in the vaccine that advises against at any time of illness.

Then I would ask them to sign a waiver with explicit clause that they will pay for all treatment costs post vaccine.

Then I would ask them again to write a vaccine waiver.

If they still won't - tell them that they will be summoned for your hearing.

I like your way of thinking, because you're right they just won't sign anything. Here in NJ especially it seems vets do not want to get involved with "not" vaccinating for rabies. I mean the state even has an exemption letter that I filled out and brought to them. All they had to do was sign it, and they wouldn't. I'll look into the titer options, although I don't expect the town to buy it. And then may have to move on to your suggestions.

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